Hungary’s new government has promised to dismantle an Orbán-era adoption rule that effectively shut same-sex couples out of the system, marking another significant shift in LGBTQ+ policy since Viktor Orbán lost power.
Prime Minister Péter Magyar confirmed that his government would change the rules governing adoption by single people, including those in same-sex relationships.
The current system was introduced in 2020 under Orbán’s right-wing Fidesz government and restricts adoption primarily to married couples.
Because Hungary does not allow same-sex marriage, gay and lesbian couples can only pursue adoption if one partner applies as a single person.
Even then, the applicant needs special approval from the minister responsible for family affairs.
LGBTQ+ rights organisations have described that political approval process as an effective ban.
“We can state unequivocally that we will change this system,” Magyar said.
Adoption Decisions Should Be Made By Professionals
Magyar said politicians should no longer decide whether a single person is permitted to adopt.
Instead, he argued that trained professionals should determine which arrangement is in the best interests of each child and most likely to provide them with a safe, stable and happy life.
Removing ministerial approval would reverse one of the most significant barriers imposed during Orbán’s 16 years in power.
Before the 2020 changes, gay and lesbian Hungarians could apply to adopt individually.
The system did not provide full equality because same-sex couples were not allowed to adopt jointly. However, it offered a pathway through which one partner could become the child’s legal parent.
Orbán’s government did not introduce a law explicitly declaring that gay people could not adopt.
Instead, it restricted adoption to married couples while placing applications from single people under direct political control.
Because marriage remained limited to opposite-sex couples, the combined effect made adoption significantly more difficult for LGBTQ+ applicants.
The Reform Has Not Yet Become Law
Magyar’s announcement is significant, but Hungary has not yet achieved adoption equality.
The government has promised to change the system, but it has not released the full wording of its proposed adoption legislation.
Important questions therefore remain about who will be eligible, how applications will be assessed and whether same-sex couples will receive the same treatment as married heterosexual couples.
Removing the ministerial veto could restore access for LGBTQ+ people applying individually.
It would not necessarily allow both partners in a same-sex relationship to adopt jointly or receive equal legal recognition as parents.
The difference matters.
A child may be raised by two parents while the law recognises only one of them. That can create uncertainty around parental responsibility, inheritance, medical decisions and what happens if the legally recognised parent dies.
Hungary recognises registered partnerships between same-sex couples, but it has never introduced marriage equality.
Without further reform, queer couples could remain excluded from parts of the adoption system even after political approval is removed.
A Major Break With The Orbán Era
The announcement represents a sharp departure from the policies pursued under Orbán.
During his time in government, Hungary ended legal gender recognition for transgender people, restricted LGBTQ+ representation in schools and media, obstructed Pride events and defined family structures in explicitly heterosexual terms.
Orbán presented those policies as the defence of children, traditional families and Christian values.
LGBTQ+ advocates said they instead encouraged discrimination by treating queer identities as inappropriate, dangerous or incompatible with family life.
The 2020 adoption restrictions became one of the clearest examples of that agenda.
Their practical effect was to make a government minister the gatekeeper for single applicants while leaving same-sex couples unable to marry and therefore unable to use the standard adoption process.
Magyar defeated Orbán in a landslide election in April, ending 16 years of Fidesz government.
His centre-right government has since promised to restore democratic standards, improve minority rights and rebuild Hungary’s relationship with the European Union.
Government Also Targets Anti-LGBTQ+ Content Restrictions
The adoption announcement comes alongside a separate effort to dismantle parts of Hungary’s so-called child protection law.
Magyar’s government submitted legislation to parliament on 14 September that would remove Orbán-era provisions prohibiting the “display and promotion of homosexuality” and gender transition in media content accessible to people under 18.
The restrictions were introduced in 2021 and applied to education, advertising, television and other forms of public communication.
Critics compared the measures to Russia’s anti-LGBTQ+ “propaganda” laws and argued that they deliberately associated queer people with pornography and child abuse.
The replacement legislation would instead focus on material that could seriously harm a child’s physical, intellectual, emotional or moral development.
It specifically targets pornography, sexual exploitation, abuse, grooming and genuinely age-inappropriate sexual content rather than LGBTQ+ identities themselves.
That bill has been formally introduced to parliament.
The adoption changes remain a separate government commitment awaiting detailed legislation.
EU Court Found Hungary’s Restrictions Unlawful
Pressure for change increased in April when the Court of Justice of the European Union ruled against Hungary’s 2021 LGBTQ+ content restrictions.
The court found that the legislation breached EU law and fundamental European values, including human dignity, equality, freedom of expression and non-discrimination.
It also concluded that the restrictions contributed to the stigmatisation and marginalisation of gay and transgender people.
The ruling concerned access to LGBTQ+ content and representation. It did not directly decide the legality of Hungary’s adoption rules.
However, it intensified pressure on the incoming Magyar government to reverse the broader anti-LGBTQ+ framework established under Orbán.
Repairing relations with the European Union has become one of Magyar’s central priorities.
That makes the reforms politically significant as well as important for human rights.
Equality Has Not Yet Been Achieved
The change in direction is substantial, but several major inequalities remain.
Same-sex couples still cannot marry in Hungary.
They do not currently have equal access to joint adoption, while transgender people remain unable to change the sex recorded on official documents.
The final impact of the adoption reform will depend on the legislation Magyar’s government ultimately introduces and how authorities apply it.
Removing political control would be an important first step.
Genuine equality would require LGBTQ+ applicants to be assessed according to the same professional standards as everyone else, without sexuality or relationship status being used to exclude suitable parents.
A New Path For LGBTQ+ Families
For queer families in Hungary, the announcement represents one of the clearest departures yet from the Orbán years.
It does not deliver marriage equality or automatically give same-sex couples equal parental recognition.
What it could do is reopen an adoption pathway that has been effectively closed for almost six years.
It would also replace a politically controlled process with professional assessments centred on the wellbeing of individual children.
After years in which Hungarian policy moved consistently against LGBTQ+ people, that reversal carries enormous symbolic weight.
The promise now needs to become carefully written law—and that law must deliver more than the appearance of equality.
The news team for Gay Nation love tips from our readers. Got tips or a news story that you would like published? Go here to tell us something.
Visit the Gay Nation store Now
